MTN EKASI TV SITES PROVE TO BE A MAJOR SUCCESS WITH SITES NOW LAUNCHED IN KWAZULU NATAL AND SOWETO ‘Ayoba’

MTN, Africa’s only global FIFA World Cup™ sponsor, is delivering on its commitment to bring the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ to the people of South Africa by increasing the number of MTN Ekasi TV sites. 

uMtubatuba (Richards Bay, KwaZulu Natal) and Orlando West (Soweto, Gauteng) are the two new recipients of giant TV screens and residents can now follow  all the excitement of local and international football live, most importantly they will be able to watch the 32 World Cup teams in action next year.

MTN Ekasi TV is changing people’s lives daily with the free entertainment on offer and delivering world class football free to township communities on giant television screens in a family-friendly, secure environment.

The TV’s go on at 2pm every day with DSTV programming. The kids get to enjoy the cartoons, Disney and educational programming, followed by football, in the confines of a safe, secure environment – keeping them off the streets and helping to reduce crime.  While MTN’s primary aim was to give as many South Africans and international visitors to the country the chance to watch 2010 FIFA World Cup™ games, this legacy will last far beyond the biggest football spectacular in the world.

The sites also encourage togetherness and bring much needed social upliftment to some of the country’s townships The line-up changes continuously to provide variety.  Security is paramount and to this end all venues have extra security personnel as well as a strong South African Police Service (SAPS) and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) presence.

Local PSL and English Premiership games are a major draw-card and over 80,000 fans braved the cold during the FIFA Confederations Cup to share the spirit with MTN Ekasi TV.  

All sites that were operating screened most of the PSL MTN 8 competition games in August and September for those who could not go to the stadiums, with a few sites hosting road shows as a build up to the MTN final, Joubert Park played host to an MTN activation with the final between Ajax Cape Town and Golden Arrows which took place on 28 October. 

The Soweto derby may have produced no goals, but 16 of the MTN Ekasi TV sites scored with the big screen TV’s around the country.  These proved to be a close second to being at Orlando stadium, “Ayoba”.  Thokoza Park (Soweto) had some 4,000 fans dressed in yellow and black and showed how MTN EKASI TV will help build community spirit and pride for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. 

The MTN Ekasi TV site in Kwathema (Ekurhuleni) backed the “Fly the flag for football” campaign which was launched in early 2009 led by the Government Communication & Information System (“GCIS”) and the International Marketing Council (“IMC”).  This multi-faceted initiative is targeted at multiple stakeholder audiences with the primary objective being to mobilize the domestic market behind the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. To drive awareness during the Derby, MTN erected a number of football related activities which included the inflatable 5-a-side soccer pitch, 2-on-2 and the inflatable free-kick.  DJ Sbu arrived later in the day to entertain the crowds.

By the time the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ kicks-off there will be 20 sites around the country. More event details will follow in due course.

Ends
 
ABOUT THE MTN GROUP
Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a multinational telecommunications group, operating in 21 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: "MTN". As at 31 December 2008, MTN recorded 90,7 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. The MTN Group is a global sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ and has exclusive mobile content rights for Africa and the Middle East. Visit www.mtn.com and www.mtnfootball.com.

For more media information, please contact:
Ntombizodwa Mhangwani (MTN) 083 201 0007
Kassey Belluigi (ICE) 011 5064480